A Western Cape man, who was disbarred in 2017 but who continued treating patients and dispensing medication under the name of another doctor, has been found guilty and convicted on multiple charges, including fraud, forgery, and corruption.
Rashid Fareed Mahfouz (66) was arrested by Philippi police in February last year while operating a practice without registration under the Health Professions Act.
During his illegal operation, Mahfouz issued fraudulent sick notes and dispensed medication using the credentials of a registered doctor.
IOL reports that he also attempted to interfere with justice during a bail hearing after his arrest, attempting to bribe a court orderly at Philippi Magistrate’s Court to destroy the case docket.
This led to an additional charge of corruption, and his bail application was denied.
Mahfouz pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, forgery, contravention of the Health Professions Act and the Medicines and Related Substances Act, and corruption. He will be sentenced tomorrow.
This wasn’t his first brush with the law.
In 2020, he was convicted on similar charges and sentenced to a R5 000 fine and a five-year suspended prison term, conditional on him not committing the same offences during that time.
In a 2017, TimesLIVE report in MedicalBrief, an HPCSA spokesperson said that Mahfouz had been disbarred. He had been arrested on suspicion of operating an illegal practice and was found guilty of practising outside the scope of the profession, and using another doctor’s practice.
Sick-note pads belonging to the doctor and bearing his signature had been confiscated, as well as medical-aid claims.
IOL article – Fake doctor convicted in Western Cape for fraud and corruption (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Unregistered doctors arrested in the Cape
Sick note fraud under investigation by HPCSA
More than 120 unregistered doctors arrested in ongoing blitz